Karlovy Vary

Karlovy Vary in 1850

An important political event took place in the city in 1819, with the issuing of the Carlsbad Decrees following a conference there. Initiated by the Austrian Minister of State Klemens von Metternich, the decrees were intended to implement anti-liberal censorship within the German Confederation.

Due to publications produced by physicians such as David Becher and Josef von Löschner, the city developed into a spa resort in the 19th century and was visited by many members of European aristocracy as well as celebrities from many fields of endeavour. It became even more popular after railway lines were completed from Prague to Cheb in 1870.

The number of visitors rose from 134 families in the 1756 season to 26,000 guests annually at the end of the 19th century. By 1911, that figure had reached 71,000, but the outbreak of World War I in 1914 greatly disrupted the tourism on which the city depended.

At the end of World War I in 1918, the large German-speaking population of Bohemia was incorporated into the new state of Czechoslovakia in accordance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919). As a result, the German-speaking majority of Karlovy Vary protested. A demonstration on 4 March 1919 passed peacefully, but later that month, six demonstrators were killed by Czech troops after a demonstration became unruly.[10]

According to the 1930 census, the city was home to 23,901 inhabitants – 20,856 were of German ethnicity, 1,446 of Czechoslovak ethnicity (Czech or Slovak), 243 of Jewish ethnicity, 19 of Hungarian ethnicity and 12 of Polish ethnicity.[11]

In 1938, the majority German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia, known as the Sudetenland, became part of Nazi Germany according to the terms of the Munich Agreement. After World War II, in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, most inhabitants were forcibly expelled because of their German ethnicity. In accordance with the Beneš decrees, their property was confiscated without compensation.[12]

Since the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the presence of Russian businesses in Karlovy Vary has steadily increased.

Mill Colonnade

Karlovy Vary is the most visited spa town in the Czech Republic.[18] As the principal city on the West Bohemian Spa Triangle and the largest spa complex in Europe, Karlovy Vary has over 80 springs.[19] They are a part of the Eger Graben, a tectonically active region in western Bohemia. Although the infiltration area is several hundred square kilometres, each spring has the same hydrological origins, and therefore shares the same dissolved minerals and chemical formula. The hottest of the springs can approach 74 °C, while the coldest have temperatures under 40 degrees. All of the springs combined provide roughly 2,000 litres of water every minute.[19]

Císařské lázně is the most important spa building, protected as a national cultural monument. It was built in the historicist style of the French Neo-Renaissance in 1893–1895.[24] The largest colonnade with five mineral springs is the Mill Colonnade (Czech: Mlýnská; pseudo-Renaissance structure, built in 1871–1881). The best-known spring is Vřídlo, located in Hot Spring Colonnade (Vřídelní; built in Functionalistic style in 1975). The spring gushes out in a geyser up to 12 m (39 ft) high. Other colonnades in the city are Park Colonnade (Sadová; cast-iron architecture structure built in 1880–1881 by Fellner & Helmer), Market Colonnade (Tržní; a wooden structure, built in Swiss style in 1882–1883 by Fellner & Helmer), and Castle Colonnade (Zámecká; built in Art Nouveau style in 1910–1912 by Friedrich Ohmann).[25]

Orthodox Church of Saint Peter and Paul

The most valuable church is the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. It is a Catholic church, built in the Baroque style in 1732–1736 on the site of an old Gothic church from the second half of the 14th century. It was built according to the design by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer and belongs to the most important buildings of the Czech Baroque. It is protected as a national cultural monument.[26]

Among the most famous buildings of the city is the Church of Saint Peter and Paul. It was built in the Byzantine style in 1893–1897. It is the largest Orthodox church west of Post-Soviet states.[27]

The Church of Saint Andrew was built in the late Gothic style around 1500, reconstructed in the Empire style in 1840–1841. A cemetery was established next to the church for foreign guests of the spa who died in Karlovy Vary. In 1911, the cemetery was converted into a park, known as Mozart's Park, with many Neoclassical tombstones. Since 2005, it is owned by the Greek Catholic Church.[28][29]

The Church of Saint Anne was built in the Baroque style in 1738–1749 on the site of an old church. It is a pilgrimage church, in the construction of which K. I. Dientzenhofer took part.[30]

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is a pseudo-Gothic church, built in 1854–1856 and rebuilt in 1893–1894. Since 1946, it is property of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.[31]

The Church of Saint Luke is a Methodist pseudo-Gothic two-aisle church, built in 1876–1877. It was built with the financial support of English spa guests. Today it no longer serves religious purposes and houses a wax museum.[32]

The Church of Saint Leonard of Noblac was the oldest ecclesiastical structure in the territory of Karlovy Vary. It was first documented in 1246. This late Romanesque structure is located in the woods south of the city proper, where a village used to be. From the end of the 15th century, after the village was depopulated, the church began to deteriorate and became a ruin.[33]

• Dorothea Sophie (1636–1689), Electress of Brandenburg, died in Karlsbad
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia; visited Karlovy Vary in 1711[34]
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German poet, novelist and scientist; published a paper on local geology[35]
• James Ogilvy, 7th Earl of Findlater (1750–1811), Scottish noble and an accomplished amateur landscape architect and philanthropist; regularly visited the spa and became a patron of the city
• Jean de Carro (1770–1857), Swiss physician; published the Almanach de Carlsbad
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), composer; came twice for spa treatments. In 1812, he performed a concert in the Czech Hall of the Grandhotel Pupp.
• Adalbert Stifter (1805–1868), Austrian writer; treated here in 1865–1867
• Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), composer; he and his parents met for the last time during a holiday in Karlsbad, August/September 1835
• Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883), Russian novelist; visited Karlsbad on numerous occasions
• Anthony J. Drexel (1826–1893), senior partner of Drexel, Morgan & Co. (JPMorgan, today) and founder of Drexel University; died in Karlsbad in 1893
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), founder of the Republic of Turkey, as well as its first President; treated here in 1918[36]
• František Běhounek (1898–1973), scientist and novelist; died here
• Vladimir Voronin (born 1941), former president of the Republic of Moldova; visits Karlovy Vary every year for spa treatments

Karlovy Vary is twinned with:[39]